Neighborhoods Worth a Visit

Exploring Kazimierz

Kazimierz, the former Jewish quarter, is an absolute must that defies easy description. It's at once a tumbled-down, decrepit former ghetto, filled with the haunting artifacts of a culture that was brutally uprooted and destroyed a generation ago. It also happens to be Kraków's coolest nightclub district, filled with cafes, cocktail bars, and trendy eateries that would not be out of place in New York's Soho or East Village. The juxtaposition is enlivening and jarring at the same time. To their credit, the Kraków city authorities have resisted the temptation to clean up the area to make it more presentable to visitors. Don't expect an easy, tourist-friendly experience. It's dirty, down at the heel, and at the same time thoroughly engaging.

Kazimierz began life as a Polish city in the 14th century, but starting from around 1500 onward it took on an increasingly Jewish character as Jews first decided to live here and then were forced to by edict. The original Jewish ghetto incorporated about the northern half of modern-day Kazimierz, bounded by a stone wall along today's Józefa street. In the 19th century, the Jews won the right of abode and the walls were eventually torn down. Many elected to stay in Kazimierz, and the 19th century, through World War I and the start of World War II, is regarded as the quarter's heyday.

The Nazi invasion put an end to centuries of Jewish life here. The Nazis first imposed a series of harsh measures on Jewish life, and in 1941 forcibly expelled the residents across the river to the newly constructed ghetto at Podgórze. At the Isaak Synagogue you can see special films of this deportation shot by the Germans themselves for propaganda purposes. By 1943 and 1944, with the liquidation of the Podgórze ghetto, nearly all of Kazimierz's 60,000 Jews had been killed or died of starvation or exhaustion.

There's no prescribed plan for visiting the former Jewish quarter. The natural point of departure is the central Plac Nowy, once the quarter's main market and now given over to a depressing combination of fruit and flea market (no doubt with real fleas). The tourist information center maintains an office at Józefa 7 (tel. 012/422-04-71; Mon-Fri 10am-4pm), and can provide maps and information. Look too for signposted routes marked "Trasa zabytków zydowskych," which includes all of the major sites. Visit the synagogues individually; each costs about 7 z ($2.30/£1.20) to enter. Don't expect gorgeous interiors; it's fortunate enough that these buildings are still standing.

After you've toured the major sites, don't overlook the Galicia Jewish Museum on Dajwór street, just beyond the main ghetto area. Check out too the New Cemetery (Nowy Cmentarz) at the far end of Miodowa street, walking below a railroad underpass. This became the main Jewish cemetery in the 19th century, and the thousands of headstones are silent testimony to the former size of this community.

Podgórze

South of Kazimierz, across the Vistula River, lies the wartime Jewish ghetto of Podgórze. It was here, at today's Plac Bohaterów Getta, where thousands of the city's Jews were forcibly moved and incarcerated in March 1941. Much of the area has since been rebuilt, and walking the depressed streets today, you'll be hard-pressed to imagine what it must have been like for thousands of Jews to be pent up here with only the prospect of eventually being sent to the camps at Auschwitz or, more nearby, Paszów. The ghetto was eventually razed in 1943 and the inhabitants killed. Look for the Apteka Pod Orem on the Plac Bohaterów Getta, which today houses a small but fascinating museum on the history of the ghetto. About 15-minute walk from the square brings you to Oskar Schindler's former enamel factory. At press time, this was still abandoned, but open to the public to walk around (this may change soon if plans go forward to open a museum or art gallery here).